Hieromartyr John I, Pope of Rome

Hieromartyr John was elected Pope of Rome on August 13, 523. In 525-526 the Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great (an Arian) sent him on a diplomatic embassy to Constantinople to intercede with Emperor Justin I for the easing of persecution against Arians in Byzantium. The Pope was received in Constantinople with exceptional honors: on April 19, 526, he himself celebrated the Paschal liturgy together with the emperor at Hagia Sophia — an unprecedented honor not seen since the meeting of Emperor Constantine the Great and Pope Sylvester I.

Upon his return to Italy, Theodoric, suspecting the Pope of collusion with Constantinople and of failing to adequately press the Arians' interests, imprisoned him at Ravenna, where John died on May 18, 526, from the harsh conditions of confinement. His relics were later translated to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome (530).

Western and several Eastern sources (notably St. Gregory of Tours, already by the late 6th century) call him a martyr who suffered for the faith under an Arian ruler's persecution — this tradition is reflected in his Orthodox veneration as a hieromartyr.

IMPORTANT NOTE ON VENERATION: the standard Russian church calendar (per azbyka.ru) contains no separate commemoration day for John I of Rome — his veneration is preserved mainly in the Western tradition and by individual local Orthodox Churches (in particular, noted by the website of the Italian-Maltese Archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate). The date May 18/31 is given as the best-attested (day of death), but cannot be presented as a universally accepted ROC commemoration date.